Family and Education

m. (1) Agnes, da. and coh. of John Smith of Cliffe by Lewes by his w. Isabel, wid. of William Dounyng; (2) bef. May 1395, Margery.

Offices Held

Biography

In May 1387 Agnes Dounyng conveyed to feoffees, including Walter Gosselyn*, her share of the property of her late father John Smith in Cliffe, South Malling and Newick near Lewes, together with her holdings in the town itself (notably a messuage in the parish of St. Andrew, near the castle), all of which were then transferred to Godeman, preparatory to their marriage. Agnes’s daughter and heir, Margaret, wife of Thomas Lark, was to allege later, at the assizes held at Lewes in 1409, that Godeman had coerced her mother into making the settlement, but a local jury upheld his version of events, and the justices permitted him to depart sine die. Meanwhile, he had married for a second time, for in May 1395 Richard Halle of Sussex had made out a bond in £10 payable to Godeman and his wife Margery.

JUST 1/1521 m. 34; CCR, 1392-6, p. 412.

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: L. S. Woodger

Notes